Retro Guys

A few years ago I was searching the stores for some G.I. Joe guys for my youngest son for his birthday. I remembered that when our older two sons were younger they had some G.I. Joes, but the12 inch guys seem to have disappeared from retail stores. All I could find were the 3 inch guys and vehicles.

Then I signed up for Ebay. I went a little crazy.
I was pretty proud of myself for being so organized with shopping a whole month before his birthday. Boxes started arriving every day. Soon I had a humongous stack of boxes hidden in my bathroom (we have a huge, hideous master bath). Then I bought some plastic bins and tackle type boxes for storing all of the guy's clothes and accessories. And there were vehicles for the guys (that's what we call them around here..."Why don't you play with your guys").
I have to say it was almost overwhelming on his birthday a few years ago with box after box and bag after bag of cool guy items to be unwrapped. But they were a big hit and when his friends came over there was a lot of guys being flung off the deck. Sometimes missing limbs were found in the grass after the lawn was mowed. Sometimes, all a guy had left was his butt:

So this year, about a month before my Youngest's birthday I suggested we get out all the boxes and bins and check out the status. There were only about 3 (from the 15 or so) guys left with all limbs and a head attached. We organized clothes, the 20 pairs of boots, the weapons, and mentally compiled a wish list. And then off to Ebay I went again...and this time he had fun with me bidding on items. But then since I was so on the ball and did this a month before his birthday, he sort of forgot exactly what was being delivered to the house. He now has about 12 guys again, and a ton of weapons, and even a scuba guy with a large raft and harpoon that Hubs has dubbed "Whale Wars".

And there were also some Hess trucks/motorcycles/space shuttles (Youngest coveted the Hess trucks from an older cousin in Florida for years so I usually find one or two on Ebay).

As a parent you gotta enjoy this kind of gift-giving (and play) while you can, because before you know it the coveting involves just electronic things and super expensive single-items. With the holidays coming I wanted to share some ideas! Plus, who knows, these G.I. Joe guys could become collector items (if the body parts stay intact!).